What is an atheist?

I for one am sick and tired of the stupid, dishonest and just plain wrong things that are said about atheists by people such as Ken 'The Lie' Ham and Ray 'Banana' Comfort. So here is my personal view of what an atheist is. Feel free to disagree with any of this, it is a personal statement and you may have your own reasons for being an atheist.

What is an atheist?

An atheist is somebody who does not believe that gods exist. We have looked at the evidence for gods, found there isn’t any, so have rejected the notion that any exist. We have considered the evidence for unicorns, fairies and other fabled creatures, found there isn’t any, and have rejected the notion that they exist too.

Atheists are angry with god that Christians believe in

We don’t believe in that god, so how can we be angry with him/her/it/them? The last time I had a tooth removed, the Tooth Fairy didn’t recompense me. Was I angry with the Tooth Fairy? No, because I don’t believe in the Tooth Fairy.

Atheists are blinded or deceived or controlled by the Devil

We don’t believe in gods, so why should we believe in devils?

Atheists are all evolutionists.

Atheists are prepared to accept the truth of evolution, because the evidence does not conflict with our faith in an ancient book of fantasy stories. A great many atheists probably only have a limited understanding of what biological evolution is, much less engage with it on a day-to-day basis.

Because we don’t believe in gods, atheists live meaningless, pointless lives

Atheist recognise that without evidence to the contrary, there is probably no afterlife. Therefore, the fact that we only have one chance at living gives our life meaning and purpose. Our interactions with others – particularly our families and friends – add to the richness of our existence. For members of AiG who ardently believe that when the die, they are going to go to a much better place, surely life is meaningless and purposeless in comparison.

Atheists believe that we are nothing but a jumble of directionless bits

In which case, the music of Mozart is just a jumble of musical notes. The Bible and the Koran are just strings of meaningless symbols.

Atheists believe we are nothing but animals

Atheists don’t just believe this, we know that it is true. We are living creatures. We share many characteristics with other living things. The main difference between us and other animals is that we have evolved powerful brains that have allowed us to develop in so many, less restricted ways. But, at a biological level, yes, we are just animals.

Atheism is a religion

Atheists don’t believe in the supernatural, so how can it be regarded as a religion? We regularly fail to congregate to not worship deities we don’t believe in. That is a very strange sort of religion.

Atheists can’t live a moral life

The likesof Ken Ham say that because we don’t get our moral guidance from a mythical supernatural being, atheists cannot be moral. Yet a great many atheists lead perfectly fine, highly moral and ethical lives, especially compared to members of certain religious groups. For example, note how prisons are stuffed to the brim with Christians.

Atheists want to see Christianity destroyed

Most atheists couldn’t care less about destroying Christianity. Most atheists get on well with most Christians. However, organisations like Aig that refuse to accept reality, and wish to conscript everybody in the world to their viewpoint, make us angry. We would prefer people to make up their own minds about religion. Besides, Christianity is in decline without our intervention. We need only sit back and watch it disappear naturally.

Atheists are aggressive towards religion

Atheists get angry with religious people who wish to browbeat people into believing what they believe. We are angry with people who lie about other people, falsely representing them as fraudulent and immoral because they don’t believe in supernatural beings. Ask yourself this: How often do you see crowds of atheists protesting outside churches? How many atheists threaten non-atheists with eternal damnation if they reject atheism? Leave us alone, and we’ll be happy to leave you alone.

Atheists want to brainwash children into being atheists

The fact is, all children are born atheists. They remain atheists until somebody tells them that they must believe in God, otherwise when they die they’ll roast for all eternity (of course, in many parts of the world, they’ll be taught to believe in the prevailing religion of that area). We don’t need to brainwash children into becoming atheists, we just need to let them grow up and adopt their own beliefs. Schools do not teach children how to be atheists, but there are plenty of schools that teach children how to be religious.

Atheists are all abortionists

All atheists will have their own opinion on abortion. Personally, I’m not keen on it, but I respect that women should be able to make an informed choice. I also believe that most women do not take this decision lightly. One interesting point: If the Christian god did exist, he/she/it/they would be responsible for all children that die in the womb or at birth of natural causes. This makes the Christian god responsible for a phenomenal number of abortions throughout history. Why is abortion by choice worse than abortion through God’s choice?

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Brilliantly stated! With your permission I'd like to heavily plagiarize this and change a few things to reflect my personal views so that my Xian friends will better understand who I am and what I do and don't believe in.

Angela, you mentioned Pat Robertson. Did you ever get to see Ernest Angsley? I used to watch him for about 10 minutes on Sundays just to get my day off to a funny start.

Kudos Dave!! I agree and could care less about their god/gods. I am happy, moral and live a full life. To get mad at these people and the incredibly ignorant things that come out of their mouths is a non issue to me. But I do watch Pat Robertson to get a WTF are you kidding me chuckle!

Very well said, Dave. I'm amazed about things all the time, and on You Tube I find a young woman there asking "why are atheists mad at God." Her upload has herself and her dog visible as she defends Christianity. She then says "you don't believe in God. Look at me. Look at this dog."